A Glimpse Of Seoul

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I wasn't originally going to blog about a 20-hour stopover in Seoul, but looking at my photos and experiences, I've just about got enough material.
Besides, I've done it before.

What I haven't done before is visit South Korea.
Coming in on the plane, you see all these rather dry, brown, perfectly cookie-cut islands on the way into Incheon. From the plane, they look like models, as if you're about to land on the set of Thunderbirds or a Japanese puppet horror movie.
Speaking of puppets, Seoul is only a mere 48km from the demilitarised zone - the border with North Korea which is home to one rone-ry man.
You almost can't believe how close South Korea's capital city is to the most heavily militarised border in the world, and arguably the world's most combustible strip of land.

Flying from Auckland to London via Korea is probably the quickest route you could take. You will have to stop at least once, and Korea neatly bisects the journey into two 11-hour flights.
Lucky for us, Korean Air offer a free hotel for our overnight stopover, which breaks up the journey nicely.

Being the explorers we are, Davies and I obviously wanted to check out whatever of Seoul we could in our short time here, so we had already worked out train times and schedules in order for us to do so.
Well, it was all a bit unnecessary, as Korean Air's whole operation is all rather efficient.
After checking through immigration, you go to the Korean Air information desk where you are given a hotel voucher.
After collecting your voucher, you are then greeted by an impossibly polite, middle-aged Korean man. After speaking to said impossibly polite, middle-aged Korean man, Davies discovers that you have the choice of a hotel by the airport, or a hotel in downtown Seoul. No-brainer.
And to top it all off, the one-hour transfer there and back is free, and you get meal vouchers for dinner and breakfast at the hotel restaurant. All included in the price of your airfare. Perfect.

On the way to the hotel you could see the efficiency, economy, industry and engineering for which the Koreans are well renown. Everything here is so well developed.
We pass through a double-decker bridge which seems to go on forever - the first double-decker bridge I've certainly ever passed through.
On the way back to the airport the next day, we would notice that the bridge passes over a massively wide expanse of sea that has almost completely dried up.
We also pass through a tangle of motorway bridges that would put Auckland's spaghetti junction to shame.

We are staying at the Ramada in downtown Seoul which are pretty good hotels - the one I stayed at in Fes earlier this year was five-star (supposedly).
Well, we weren't disappointed - while the hotel room doors resembled the doors of prison cells, the rooms behind them were anything but.
The room was nicely furnished, with a queen-sized bed, a couch, a bathroom, a coffee table and a flat-screen TV - I then discovered another door at the back of the room that led to another bedroom with a king-sized bed, a desk and a flash ensuite. You could say the room was suite-as.

Even though we were eating for free, we still got the usual impossibly polite Korean service at the hotel restaurant buffet.
Lots of raw fish, seafood and kimchi. Yummy, but I'll probably lay off all of those foods for a while.
The meat and vegetable dishes were really spicy, the cakes disappointing. The fruit salad, with funny, hard, gelatin-like, lychee-tasting cubes, was delicious.

Although we were dead-tired having jumped on our plane here on two hours sleep after celebrating New Zealand's Rugby World Cup win, we still had it in us to take a walk around the city.
Trying to go north to get to where the main sights were, we found the place difficult to navigate with all the tall buildings here.
The city is a typical city of tall, flash buildings but perhaps stereotypically, with more bright neon lights.
We notice that there are shitloads of 7-Elevens and chain coffee houses here - about as many of them as there are pubs in London.
Speaking of pubs, we had been told by Gkee in New Zealand that the Koreans have a massive binge-drinking culture. This was in evidence when we passed a middle-aged guy stumbling head-down up a staircase, and again when we passed another middle-aged man passed out and slumped in his chair inside a coffee house. Typically reserved when sober, it makes it doubly hilarious to see grown Asian men exhibiting such behaviour when drunk - on a Monday night.
My theory is that the coffee houses are there to keep people awake for a long, hard day's work before they let off all their steam in the evening.
There might also be a binge donut-eating culture as well judging by the number of donut shops around downtown Seoul.

We eventually get to a wide, landscaped, statue-laden boulevard that leads up to Gyeonbokgung, one of five old royal palaces located in Seoul.
As it's 10pm at night, the palace is obviously closed.
The US embassy is also on this road, noticeable by the amount of security in front of it, including many officers carrying lit-up batons that looked like light sabres. I guess it is only 48km from North Korea.
We then double back into town and walk along Cheonggyecheon Stream, a modern stream that cuts right through the heart of the city, a spot of nature and recreation among all the tall buildings. It is well done, and a nice place for a post-dinner stroll.
We then pass through the Myeongdong market and shopping district, the area being a bright, neon-lit maze of stalls selling their wares alongside more established retail stores such as H&M and Nike.
That pretty much brought to an end our short tour of Seoul, I think I'll definitely like to come back to see the place in more detail one day.
There isn't really too much of a culture shock here, as familiar brands and westernisation has made Seoul much like any other city in the world.

I said in my last blog entry that I don't know where the next blog entry is coming from - well, that is still the case. So until then...

작별 인사!
Derek

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Photos

Gwanghwamun
Gate to the Gyeongbokgung Palace.

Cheonggyecheon Stream
Modern recreation area in downtown Seoul.

Bright Lights
A stereotypical image that might come to mind when you think about Korea.

Gayageum
This is about as close to some authentic Korean culture as I got. A Korean women playing a traditional 12-string harp - in the airport. I suppose it's good to showcase some local culture at the airport.

Sejongno
Looking back on the city from Sejongno, the wide boulevard leading up to the Gyeongbokgung Palace.

Waterfall
At the start of Cheonggyecheon Stream.

Cheonggyecheon Stream II
The stream runs right through the city and is 8.4km long.

Seoul Cityscape
With the Seoul Tower in the distance.

The Spring
Monument at the start of Cheonggyecheon Stream.

King Sejong
The second king of the Joseon Dynasty.

Myeongdong
Shopping district that we walked through

Winner Winner Korean Dinner
And this was just the entree.

Suspended Gas Pumps
WIth space becoming ever so scarce in the city, this gas station has found a creative way to make the most of what its got.

Under The Bridge
Locals chill by Cheonggyecheon Stream.

More Korean Culture At The Airport
Some may say it's tacky but it's good to remember where you are.

LOL
If you lean against the lift doors, you may fall through them and head first to your death.

Comments

[Mi Sook]

Thanks for blogging Seoul
Hello, I am a Korean woman and it was good to discover a blog of Seoul. I don't want to mention much on others' personal opinion and I just like to say that king Sejong is the 4th king of Joseon and he invented Korean alphabet "Han-geul". And I think it would 've been better if you had strolled under the bright sunny daylight ,and enjoyed Korea's autumn, the beauty of beyond description. Good luck for your days!